The Nation Newspaper

Tag: hope

  • Hope for a nation in bondage

    SIR: By commission and omission, Nigerians brought this great nation on her knees. So, let us go soul searching before casting our treasured votes. The general elections should not be about filling posts as usual. It should be about redefining who we are, what we want, the challenges of a true federation and above all, how we want the world to perceive us as from the next republic.

    In 1960, a child of flawed constitution was born, deformed, hydra-headed and still stammering in adolescent and incoherent on her knees at over 50 years of age. Delivered in bad faith for  the sole purpose of a sustainable, exploitative, British prosperity and selfish-interest; born of questionable parenthood, kidnapped and nursed in the crib of commanding officers since age seven, nursed mostly by  army generals and inept leadership in politics.

    One of the last generals standing upright, reformed, and apologetic of the rot they left behind, bids a come back to straighten things up. That’s General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB)’s unfinished business in today’s politics.

    Let GMB come in and infuse sanity, discipline, dignity, not on his command but on the rule of law and justice in a nation yawning for true fiscal federalism.

    My choice of GMB is informed by the legendary traits of his leadership virtues  and discipline. The nation is bursting at the seams with brilliant minds, in all spheres of life but fatally wanting in leadership! Grossly under-utilised and wasting like our vast potentials of arable lands, bring in merit and a just social order, and you will harvest bountifully, human resources of immense proportions.

    That’s what we need to excel, as in the economic miracles of BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia India and China.

    Although, and most unfortunate but true, even the best amongst of us, when given the opportunity are often converted easily in a land thoroughly wired in corruption. Just take a cursory look at how the high and mighty in governments, politics, business, even our religious leaders; thriving on Alleluyah merchandise,  are not spared of this plague, as they often come cascading from the altar of grace to be refurbished on grass. Buhari’s legendary integrity, austere and disciplined life are values our nation’s bankrupt elite can profit from.

    Ours is a nation in bondage by our own doings. From rural Otueke, to cosmopolitan Kaduna, Jos, Enugu, Port Harcourt and mega city of Lagos, the prognosis is very bad. The pang of  birth, the pain of hunger, distress and pleasure are the same in all human beings. Let the truth be told, the same sun that shines its brilliance on the mansions and glittering-marbles in the  cosmopolitan cities, hides not its face from our rural dwellings, creeks and oil-spilled-rivers of the Niger Delta or such severally fouled-up-rivers, criss -crossing our entire lands, west, east, north and south. Our needs and wants, though varied, converge at a point of realities in our daily lives.

    PDP gave us no choice; we must embrace this great opportunity for change, even though we have no faith in our men of straw, called politicans. The privilege few that parades the corridors of power bestriding  the land like colossus; haunting down and diminishing our commonwealth with reckless abandon; veiled in legal instruments, concocted by unconscionable but various ingenuity. Amazing, but true. Fate must have ironically, unfairly destined GEJ of the shoeless fame to toy with the need of this famished nation in dire need of good governance. What an irony?

    Let facts speak, when millions lose their jobs, the economy wanes and commerce goes into comatose as we are witnessing now, the President should lose his job.  He should feel the pinch in his now severally acquired golden shoes.

     

    •  Goke Omisore,

    Lekki, Lagos.

  • Carnival for orphans, physically challenged brings joy, hope

    Carnival for orphans, physically challenged brings joy, hope

    Children from different orphanage homes in Oyo, Ogun and Osun States and some other less privileged persons in the society, including the physically challenged, were brought together in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital recently in a carnival-like atmosphere by Care People Foundation to celebrate them and offer some forms of assistance. OSEHEYE OKWUOFU was there.

    It was not the usual carnival where people gathered once in a while to celebrate, rejoice and make merry. This was a carnival with a difference to remember the needy and voiceless in the society and take care of the critical aspects of their needs.

    Though not totally devoid of merry making, the carnival organised by the Care People Foundation for motherless babies and handicapped persons, essentially was meant to show love, affection and care for the less privileged in the society.

    The event which took place a couple of weeks ago at the Foundation’s centre along the Ibadan-Lagos Expressway drew children from orphanages from Oyo, Osun and Ogun States and witnessed march-past/parade by the orphans, football match featuring the physically challenged, children games and distribution of gifts and prizes.

    Mr. Mojeed Olabode, who had problems standing on his feet since birth was one of the beneficiaries of the 50 brand new wheel chairs donated by the Foundation through the philanthropy of some affluent individuals in the society.

    In spite of his physical challenges, Olabode is an Ewi exponent and father of five boys. Yet, his dream in life was to be able to save part of the earnings from his Ewi music and buy a wheel chair. But his pains were turned into joy when a new wheel chair was handed over to him at the carnival.

    “For more than two decades, I could not buy a wheel chair because it is very expensive and I could not afford it from my earnings”, Olabode said.

    Unlike Olabode , Pastor Remi Alao was not born with any disability but got one after he was involved in a ghastly auto crash on his way to Kwara state from Lagos. Alao, a preacher could not afford to buy a wheel chair which he said had been a major problem in his life.

    Both Messrs Olabode and Alao were among hundreds of physically challenged persons who benefited from the 50 new wheel chairs distributed at the carnival by the Foundation as part of the annual event.

    Some of the beneficiaries could not hold their emotions as they expressed joy and gratitude to the Foundation. Young children, all orphans, also received various gifts. Adorned in their best dresses, the children filled the long canopies with well prepared dishes and soft drinks to savour. It was a memorable day for them. Others were busy serving dishes to the invited guests as ushers. They were also well dressed.

    On the high table was the Chairman of the occasion, Professor Isaac Adeyemi, the Vice Chancellor of Bells University, Sango Ota, Ogun state in the company with his wife.

    Also present was the Chairman, Governing Council of the Foundation, Dr Abib Olamitoye, owner of Ibadan Central Hospital.

    On what motivated the gesture, Dr Olamitoye told The Nation during an interview shortly after the event that:” As parents we have our own children, but the children here are not the same. They depend on strangers. They have no parents, no one to call daddy, no one to call mummy. So we want to be here and find a way to empower them”.

    He explained further the need to turn the orphanage into a children village with modern facilities, stating that efforts have been made in this regard to reach out to individuals whose hearts move them to give to the needy.

    “We have the vision of creating a village here. The kind of school we want to start this January, if you look to the left, Oyo state Government is building homes here; we expect that the quality of the school will be able to cater in the immediate future for the children that will come into these new homes. They will mix with these motherless children. That is why we want to focus on the quality of teachers and then the standard of the school; a school that will raise children that will be leaders of tomorrow. This is the kind of vision we have for this centre.

    “Then, in the future we want to bring in more children from other orphanage homes because all these other homes do not have the kind of facility we have here. So, after we have started the school, we are going to build more dormitories for the children so that in the near future we will have children village here; in the near future we will have schools for the handicap and motherless children and for the physically challenged, the blind, deaf and less privileged.

    “Other children that are on the streets, that cannot find their bearings in the society we want to incorporate them here so that we can rid the society of the horror of seeing children that carry low capacity to achieve basic education, “ Dr Olamitoye said.

    The Chairman of the Foundation, Reverend Paul Tunde Tioluwani thanked all those who have brought smiles on the faces of the less privileged and the orphans in their time of need.

    Since the establishment of the orphanage in 1999, several young children have been trained to become leaders in their fields. One of them, according to Tioluwani, recently graduated as a civil engineer.

    “My first graduate came out last year as a civil engineer. And about two or three months ago he joined the Nigerian Army. This was a young man that we picked under the bridge as a boy, we never knew that he can become that academically brilliant because he used his academic certificate to join the Army. So, our Foundation goes beyond housing people here, we organise programmes. Last November we had a quiz competition for all secondary schools in Oyo state. We also give out scholarships to indigent students. We have given out thousands of scholarships along that line”, he said.

    Reverend Tioluwani, however, urged Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of giving to the less privileged in their midst, and not develop apathy towards the handicapped.

    He described such attitude as not only ungodly but unloving.

    “In Nigeria people look at children of orphanages as people that have no tomorrow, but they have forgotten that there are people who grew up in orphanages and they are shaking the world. I have been told that the present manager of Chelsea Football Club grew up in an orphanage and so many like that. So, you don’t conclude a man’s tomorrow because you are not the one that created him.”

    The highlight of the event was a football match among the handicapped which thrilled the audience.

  • Don’t lose hope, Okonkwo charges Nigerians

    The Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission(TREM), Dr Mike Okonkwo, has advised Nigerians to hold on to hope in the face of daunting challenges facing the nation.

    Okonkwo, in a New Year message, said: “I urge every Nigerian to always go to God in prayers and not lose hope because the worst thing that can happen to any person or nation is not to have hope.

    “If you lose hope, then there is no point living at all but since there is hope and a place to run to, then, it is best we seek refuge in that place and be sure of tomorrow.”

    He tasked Nigerians to lift up the nation in prayers on the forthcoming elections.

    “I specially call on all Christians to pray that God will cause us to have credible elections and good governance, because I believe that Nigeria has a great future which God has laidout plans for,” he stressed.

    Okonkwo appealed to Nigerians to obtain their Permanent Voters Card(PVC) to  “re-direct the ship of the nation in the right path.”

    He pleaded with agents of destabilisation involved in suicide bombings and terror attacks to desist and give peace a chance.

     

  • ‘We have lost hope’

    ‘We have lost hope’

    Even for survivors of the insurgency, some wounds may never heal. Some families do not know whether their breadwinners are alive or dead. At their camps, they are short of everything they need. OLUGBENGA ADANIKIN captures the agony of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Federal Capital Territory

    Fatimah Abdulahi, 20, is a mother of two beautiful girls. She is married to Yusuf Abdullahi, a farmer from Adamawa State. They are blessed with Fatima aged two and Zainab, who is just three weeks old. The couple lived peacefully until the enemy struck, forcing them from their home.

    Fatimah and her two children had a sordid experience before they escaped, sleeping in the bush for two days before evading the assailants. They have since joined the huge crowd of people who fled to the nation’s capital for safety.

    She and her daughters are not under any imminent threat from those who chased them out of their home, but something is missing. Where is her husband and father of her girls? Fatimah said she was not sure if her husband was alive or dead.

    Mr. Job Pitman, a 52-year-old father of nine, from Shendam Local Government Area, Plateau State, is another displaced person in Abuja.

    He recalled how his family initially sheltered under a cashew tree and lived under the worst circumstances during the rainy season. He shared the tree shade with about 200 people, he said.

    “They (their attackers) came to pursue us where we were staying. They demolished the bacha (a small makeshift wooden house). So we lived under a cashew tree. It was Madam Adaorah who came to our place to see how we were surviving and asked if it was human beings living under the tree and I answered yes.

    “We don’t have money but even if we had money, we cannot go back because of the crisis. Election is near but we cannot vote because our voter cards are in Jos. We want government to just come to our rescue and help us like this woman is helping because we have lost hope. They should help us with a place to live,” Pitman said.

    Another victim, Mrs. Hanatu Peter, 25, from Jos also lamented how she slept under the bridge with her husband and a-three-year-old daughter before she went to Kuchingoro. “We relocated from Jos because of the crisis. My husband does not have any work, so we stayed at Kuchingoro in a small batcha (makeshift woodhouse). Before then, we were sleeping under the bridge with my three months old baby. So we have been managing before God sent this aunty to us. Every time she will bring food and cloth to us and check on us.

    “I want government to build a place for us and create jobs so that we will be able to feed ourselves.”

    It is clear these groups are vulnerable. The terror has thorn their families apart, leaving indelible marks in their history. The minds of their infants have been fouled with sordid experiences.

    The Northeast is the worst hit by the Boko Haram Islamist sect, which has crippled socio-economic activities of the region. Some residents who escaped to neighbouring nations are either subjected to modern slavery or recruited into terrorist camps. According to reports, not less than 5, 000 people have lost their lives between July 2009 and June 2014 while over 650, 000 persons were displaced with an increase of 200, 000 since May 2014.

    The terror left thousands in anguish and despicable situations. Clearly, the wound will take a while to heal. The United Nations annual global trends report revealed an increasing 51.2 million displaced persons across the world, compared with 45.2 million recorded in 2012. This incidentally became a worrying trend that calls for peace and resolution among areas of high conflicts.

    “We are seeing here the immense cost of not ending wars, of failing to resolve or prevent conflict.

    “Peace is today dangerously in deficit. Humanitarian gestures can help as palliatives, but political solutions are vitally needed. Without this, the alarming levels of conflict and mass suffering that is reflected in these figures will continue,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres.

    According to the Initiator of YellowJerrican Save a Child Foundation, Adaora Onyechere there was need for change of approach to address IDP needs. She emphasised how improper care of the vulnerable group could intensity insecurity in the territory. As for her, government ought to create a reliable database in that respect. Relevant NGOs and government agencies should harmonise their activities to properly address the needs.

    “The urban procession of these displaced persons is not only a major template for an increase in violence and crimes but also a corrosive fabric for rebellion and anti-government, premeditated activities through these persons who are highly gullible and detrimental to the fabric of Nigeria’s politics and government’s transformation agenda.”

    At Waru district in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Abuja Review learnt that about 2, 000 refugees had stormed the community to live with their relatives or friends just for survival. A few months after, about 1, 856 persons also left the crisis-thorn region for the community. Since the town was becoming more dominated, it captured attention of philantropists and government agencies. Faith Based Organisations (FBOs) and Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs) paid visits to them to show them love. Though, an official of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) discredited the figure. According to her, about 200 displaced persons were recorded in the community.

    Meanwhile, during the launch of the Presidential Committee on Victims Support Fund (VSF) for the IDPs on July, 2014, the committee, chaired by Danjuma was able to rake about N80 billion. Danjuma alone made a donation of about N1.6b. It was recorded the highest single donation to the fund. Perhaps, that was the rationale he was made Chairman and custodian of the Fund.

    The VSF was mandated to develop appropriate strategies for the fund raising, ascertain persons, communities and economic assets affected by Boko Haram terror activities. Other responsibilities include assess and determine the appropriate support required in each case, to manage disburse or administer support to the victims as appropriate. It also include addressing related challenges as may be appropriate and advise government on other matters necessary or incidental to support victims of boko haram terror activities.

    Ironically, as the committee began its implementation, things became twisted. The IDPs demanded a change of approach. They wanted to be empowered and provided with basic necessities, rather than just being fed with staple foods. The IDPs disclosed that the relief materials were commendable but ephemeral.

  • What hope for this orphan?

    What hope for this orphan?

    •Poor guardian can’t fund his education

    Though his school, Rybeka Model School, Olodi/Apapa in Lagos, resumed penultimate Wednesday, Master Favour Njoku could only join his classmates last week.

    The paltry money left in the bank account opened for him by The Nation could only settle part of his tuition. Now, there is heightened fear that he may drop out of school unless kind-hearted Nigerians urgently rise to his rescue.

    Favour became The Nation’s kid, following a plea to Nigerians by his maternal uncle, Ambrose Njoku, to save the three-year-old orphan’s unsure future.

    The boy’s father disappeared two years ago at the height of a cancer-related ailment that held his mother bedridden for months, thus prompting Ambrose to move her to Lagos in search of financial assistance. The helpless woman eventually died, leaving Favour behind.

    Ambrose decided to cry out to Nigerians to help Favour.

    Favour’s ordeal was first published by The Nation in March, last year. His story provoked an outpour of emotions as Nigerians inundated this newspaper’s hotline with demands for how they could send him their widow’s mite.

    The Nation promptly opened ‘Master Favour Njoku Trust Fund’ account at Sterling Bank Plc, Matori, Lagos, with number 0019623543.

    Cash started trickling in and in no time, N240,000 was realised to kick-start a journey that would see the boy attain his educational dream. A kind-hearted commissioner in the state led the pack of the Good Samaritans.

    Against the tradition where The Nation usually pays Favour’s school fees for a whole session, the money left in Favour’s account could cater for his first and second terms only in this 2014/15 session.

    The boy was initially enrolled at Cedec International Schools, a high-flying private school at Olodi-Apapa, but owing to the N100,000 tuition (excluding other costs) charged by the school, Nigerians advised that Favour be moved to another school with a modest fee. The Nation heeded the call, thus facilitating his enrolment at Rybeka Model School, a modest nursery/primary school in the same vicinity.

    Favour’s account is low,  following the withdrawal was made last week to settle his first and second term’s tuition in the session.

    Now, his guardians are calling on public-spirited Nigerians and charity organisations not only to assist poor Favour, but also his jobless uncle, whose one-room apartment at 3, Braimoh Street, Olodi-Apapa where he accommodates his wife, three children including Favour, is dilapidated.

    Favour’s performance in the 2013/2014 session, as indicated in his result sheets, revealed a significant excellence. He scored 87 per cent in the first time; 89 per cent in the second and 95 per cent in the third term.

    “This boy (Favour) is too bright to be allowed to drop out of school for lack of parental care or funds. Sadly, I’m poor and helpless; this is why I have to cry out and see if God will continue to touch the hearts of the few Good Samaritans that have taken him this far,” said Ambrose.

     

  • Odigie-Oyegun preaches hope, change in Ibadan

    Odigie-Oyegun preaches hope, change in Ibadan

    • Says PDP must go in 2015 because it has failed Nigerians

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun at the weekend declared that the only thing that can salvage the country from its present ailing condition is for the people to effect change through the ballot box in 2015 general election to rescue Nigeria from total collapse.

    He took a cursory look at the country’s 15 years after the return to democratic rule and concluded that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government has indeed plunged the country into many woes. He said “The truth is our country is really sick and needed help.”

    He charged Nigerians to vote PDP out of power in 2015 after 15 years of stagnation and agony, so as to bring development and growth.

    The APC National Chairman, Chief Odigie-Oyegun made the declaration while delivering the 2014 lecture of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association held at the Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan on Friday evening.

    He lamented the socio economic downturn of the country which he blamed on brazen corruption aided by top government officials and misrule since 1999 by the PDP government, saying that the atmosphere that pervades the nation today is that of uncertainty and despair.

    In attendance at the well- attended lecture are the APC presidential aspirant, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal , Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, representatives of Osun, Ogun, Kwara States, former governor of Osun State, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, a onetime governor of Ekiti State, Chief Segun Oni, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, his Imo State counterpart,  Rochas Okorocha represented by the Imo State House of Assembly Speaker, Benjamin Uwajimugo, Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed represented by the Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bode Olayemi, the Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Isaac Adewole, students, members of the diplomatic corps, and captains of industry amongst others.

    Chief Odigie-Oyegun in his lecture titled, “Nigeria, a trajectory of dashed expectation: Looking into the future with hope”, said while it remains an obvious truth that Nigeria, 54 years after, was perceived and still behaves like a toddler, there is no doubt that the country has suffered stunted growth as a result of gross leadership failure.

    “This is exemplified by our failure, as a people, to use our huge human and material resources to galvanize development in our country, this in spite of being a leading oil producing nation in the world.

    “Despite the fact the Nigeria’s economy is the largest in Africa, yet, it has not translated into a better living standard for the citizens. The people of Nigeria though amongst the world’s most talented, are today suffering from brain drain, unemployment and poverty. In reality, the country is suffering from administrative and management neglect, high unemployment, social deprivation, abject poverty, filth, squalor, insecurity and even increasing endemic ethnic and religious conflict. As the country is burdened by under development and insecurity challenges, the federal government being hamstrung in curtailing it, many are of the opinion that the country is sliding into chaos,” he stated.

    While noting that  today Nigerians  are virtually in a country at war with itself with so much violence, the lecture said the truth is, our country is really sick and needed help, even as examined the progress being made in many areas of everyday living by countries not as endowed like Nigeria.

    For example, Chief Odigie-Oyegun said, “there is economic growth in all OPEC member countries. In 2012, the fastest growing economies were Iraq, Libya, Nigeria and Qatar, while the least growing economies were Iran, Libya and Algeria. However, in Nigeria, it is apparent that the growth is yet to translate into tangible development.  A quick check between Nigeria and her age mates shows clearly that while some of those who had independence same time with Nigeria have earned global reputation for their improved economies through manufacturing and export of their products, Nigeria still seems to rely on other countries for her survival.”

    He accused the federal government of championing the cause of corruption when he related the alleged $9.3million and over $5 million cash for arms deal seized in South Africa, adding that the whole episode makes mockery of Nigeria as a nation.

    He wondered  why will the federal government resort to using private jets for such transactions with the avalanche of official aircraft at its disposal, stating that it was a clear case of money laundering now being white-washed by agents of the state as money meant for arms purchase.

    “This is no time to lead the blind in our country. We are definitely leaving in difficult times beset with problems. These problems and difficulties are by and large man-made and we must not, as Frantz Fanon had warned, continue to waste our time in sterile litanies and nauseating mimicry. We must avoid a leadership that will not serve our collective interests,” he declared.

    The Speaker, House of Representatives, Waziri Tambuwal, in his brief remarks bemoaned the state of education in the country, which he said needed urgent surgery.

    He explained that over the past years the House had tried to ensure that education regained its glory, but blamed the executive for unnecessary interference in the legitimate role of the legislature in its oversight functions.

    He, however, expressed hope for the future of the country, while urging for patience and understanding.

    The governor of Oyo State , Senator Abiola Ajimobi in his address described the former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as the most stoic leader Nigeria ever produced, and stated that the message being sent by the arrays of leaders in the APC is that there is going to be Change and hope for Nigeria.

  • The poverty of hope

    Hope is never enough to salvage our ship of state from the tempest of the world’s wind. Yesterday, we taunted hope, today we shame it. Tomorrow, hope will desert us and we shall become the nation for whom nothing prospers; save gluttony and cheek; save cowardice, double-speak, ill-bliss – and all our twisted lusts and perversions by the gods we make.

    Today, we stand on the bight of history to murder whatever hope survives, again. Despite our rant for progress and clamour for change wrought in the interest of the collective good, see…see what politics we advocate. See what candidates we celebrate.

    Like a mixed economy, men of mixed politics touting philosophies of mixed premises assault our psyche with debilitating mathematic and skill. They have led us from the epoch of gloomy realities to that where geometry of military vigour and feeble rebellion dissipates in their own ruined world.

    The consequences of our politics bear down on us as the enfant terrible eagle, death-activated, on stray chicks. But we choose to see what we would like to see. We choose to appreciate what is convenient for us to appreciate.

    Being that you possess such inalienable right to root for and project the politics and humanity of whichever candidate appeals to your philosophy of socio-political correctness, I do not seek to deny you such inalienable privilege rather I ask that you exercise great tact and meticulousness, if you could manage to do so, in casting your vote at the forthcoming general elections in 2015.

    I ask that you be wary of everybody and everything…even your subconscious; for certain questions which you will frequently hear and certain apologies which you would be forced or lured to accommodate are hardly progressive philosophical queries or rhetoric. They are rather psychological confessions and expositions of the treachery and chaos within our preferred candidates, their apologists and the innate voice in you and me.

    More often than not, every touted good reveals a deeper evil; like the enormity of the extent to which altruism erodes a man’s capacity to grasp the concept of rights or the actual value of human life. It reveals the extent to which the reality of humanity has being wiped out.

    I ask that you be wary of the extremely humble and patronising candidate who is desperate to serve as the means to the end of others; for such character will necessarily regard others – including you and me – as the means to achieving his ends, usually at all costs.

    The more neurotic he is or the more conscientious he gets in his practice of altruism –the more he will, as usual, devise schemes “for the love of the collective good,” “for the love of the common man,” or “posterity” and “leaders of tomorrow.” Every effort of such candidate will be geared at reinforcing all manners of sentiments and sound bites – he will seek to fulfil every need except of actual human beings, like you and me.

    Hence my heartfelt proposition of a debate, and multiple debates to serve as the looking glasses through which we shall view and analyse the politics and humanity of our preferred candidate in order to trust his soul or impeach him.

    I earnestly plead that we scorn the politics of unblemished altruism and its advocates for such altruism oftentimes promises automatic and wholly magical solutions to problems of poverty, security, sub-standard education and healthcare to mention a few. It promises success and survival to anyone and everyone offering basically “life-boat” solutions as lifelines from which to derive the benefits of such philosophy of governance and moral conduct while our social realities negate any such benefit.

    Let us not be deceived by the promises of modern and affordable housing, true federalism, fiscal prudence, quality education and so on tirelessly regurgitated by our preferred candidates. Let us begin to ask how they would pay for these things and at what cost to you and me.

    Thus the beauty of a platform by which we would make each candidate define his philosophy of social reform, welfare governance and the psychology of his noble experiments in the interest of our most basic necessities. The appalling recklessness with which our candidates propose, justify and project “government with a human face” may be discernible, measured and disclaimed through the looking-glass of well organised political debates and frank-talk. Thus we could begin to identify and abstain from such candidates and their philosophy of bogus realities.

    Thus we may get to know, in the nick of time, that the hallmark of their “humanitarian” mentalities is the advocacy of some limitless grand scale public goal or initiative, without regard to context, costs or means of achieving it. Then we would get to know and wholly understand their modus operandi: for such a goal or initiative to be desirable to you and me, it has to be made public and glamorised because the costs are not to be earned, but to be expropriated; and a dense patch of venomous fog has to enshroud such vital issues as the means of achieving it – because the means are to be human lives. Human lives like yours and mine; battered, bruised, browbeaten and easy to fleece.

    Healthcare appropriately illustrates a modicum of their life-boat ventures. “Isn’t it desirable that the government subsidizes treatment of compatriots living with HIV/AIDS?” clamours an average citizen. The preferable answer would be “Yes, it is desirable.” Who would have a reason to say no anyway?

    It is at this point that both mental and moral processes of a collectivised brain are wholly cut off; the rest is fog. Only the desire remains in sight of our “altruistic” candidate. “It’s for the greater good. It’s hardly in my interest but the interest of others. It’s for the public, a helpless, ailing public,” seeks the candidate for justification. Consequently, the fog hides such facts as the embezzlement of public fund, unbridled looting of the public till, compromise and sacrifice of medical science, professional integrity and the careers and happiness of those who are to administer such care, the medical doctors; and those who are to enjoy it, the patients.

    The examples of such projects are innumerable as daily our favoured candidates whip up more altruistic hogwash to bait us, draw us in and enslave us. Therefore, be wary of the candidate promising to clean up our slums while avoiding questions about what happens to the victims of such cleansing and those in the next income bracket.

    Be wary of the candidate who seeks to educate the public while avoiding crucial issues as the quality and welfare of staff to anchor such educational project, what will be taught, and what back-up measures to be adopted in the event that the initiative fails. Be wary of the candidate who seeks that Nigeria too gets to do the moonwalk and conquer space even as he avoids the crucial issues of government and private sector neglect and discrimination against the nation’s polytechnics and technological training schools.

    Be conscious of the essence of their unreality – their blind, savage, ghastly elegant unreality that inspires them to prevaricate and if possible, avoid the usually unanswered and unanswerable question to all their “popular” and “altruistic” goals: “Who really gets to enjoy the benefits?” You? Me?

  • Hope rises for Ebola vaccine

    Hope rises for Ebola vaccine

    Vaccinated monkeys have developed “long-term” immunity to the Ebola virus, raising a prospect of successful human trials, say scientists.

    The experiments by the United States (U.S.) National Institutes of Health showed immunity could last at least 10 months, according to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

    Human trials of the vaccine started last week in the U.S. and will extend to the United Kingdom and Africa.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) said more than 2,000 people have died in the outbreak in West Africa.

    Several experimental treatments are being considered to help contain the spread of Ebola.

    This includes a vaccine being developed by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.

    It uses a genetically modified chimp virus containing components of two species of Ebola – Zaire, which is currently circulating in West Africa, and the common Sudan species.

    The viral vaccine does not replicate inside the body, but it is hoped the immune system will react to the Ebola component of the vaccine and develop immunity.

    Animal research, on which the decision to begin human trials was based, has now been published in the journal Nature Medicine.

    It shows four crab-eating macaques all survived what would have been a fatal dose of Ebola virus five weeks later.

    However, only half survived an infection 10 months after immunisation.

    Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the BBC: “The good part of this vaccine is that at five weeks or earlier you get full protection.

    “The sobering news is the durability isn’t great, but if you give a boost, a second shot, you make it really durable.”

    “We knew this worked in the monkey months ago and based on this paper we started human trials.”

    For now this is the best evidence available on how successful such a vaccine would be in people.

    The first patient, a 39-year-old woman, was given the vaccine last week as human trials got under way.

    There will also be separate trials of the vaccine against just the Zaire Ebola species.

    These will take place in the US, the University of Oxford in the UK as well as in Mali and Gambia.

    The WHO said safety data would be ready by November 2014 and, if the vaccine proved safe, it would be used in West Africa immediately.

    Healthcare workers and other frontline staff would be prioritised for vaccination.

    The number of doses currently available is between 400 – if a lot of vaccine is needed for immunity – and 4,000 if smaller amounts are sufficient.

    As with all experimental therapies, the WHO has warned hopes of a vaccine must not detract from the proven methods of infection control which have defeated all previous outbreaks.

    Prof Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham, said: “This is really encouraging data.

    “The degree of protection seen with the chimpanzee adenovirus alone – which will be used in one of the human clinical trials planned for the UK, Mali and the Gambia – was still pretty impressive, especially when the animals received Ebola virus within a few weeks of vaccination.

    “This is important as it would keep the dosing regimen simple and could still provide good protection in the sort of outbreak that we are seeing in Western Africa at the moment.”

  • ‘Kwankwaso is giving hope to people’

    ‘Kwankwaso is giving hope to people’

    Dr Danburam Abubakar Nuhu is the Kano State Commissioner for Information, Internal Affairs, Youths Sports and Culture. In this interview with Kolade Adeyemi, Nuhu assesses Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s achievements and other issues. Excerpts

    What would you say are the achievements of Governor Kwankwaso’s administration?

    As a visionary governor, Kwankwaso, having noticed the yawning gap in the education sector, took the bull by the horn towards bridging the education gap by sending over 3,000 students abroad and to local universities to pursue specialised courses, so as to be self-sufficient in the manpower needs of the state. Already, he has established a bi-lingual school in Niger Republic because we have appreciated the importance of our relationship with Niger Republic. In terms of proximity, it is next door to the state. Also, if you look at the entire sub-African regions and the West African regions, most of them, if not only Nigeria and Ghana, are French speaking and if we migrate to their territory, there will be language barrier in relating with them and because the governor is futuristic, visionary and tackles issues ahead of time, he decided to prepare people ahead of time. That is what informed his decision on the establishment of a joint bi-Lingual secondary school with the state government’s funds, which is the first boarding secondary school in the Republic of Niger. Meanwhile, we have 100 students in the school, who have been joined by another set of 100 students from the Republic of Niger.

    This idea also informed the governor’s decision on how to sharpen the skills of our people in other areas, following his vision. For now, the government has taken another giant leap to let our people learn the Chinese language because we are aware that China is almost the largest economy in the world and for strategic reasons, we need to have our people in China, so that tomorrow when anybody wants to have a business transaction with the Chinese, it will be our people who would be the link, there will be no language barrier. Just recently, the governor approved that some of our teachers that were taught here are to undergo about three months programme in China.

    Also, we have our concept of the integration of the Almajiri system and for now, we are trying to figure out the schools where they are and see what we can do in providing facilities to those schools, rather than embarking on the establishment of a brand new Almajiri school. This is so because we have to consider the sensibility of calling a name like Almajiri school, which may give the impression that the school is just there for different kind of people.

    They are also human beings like us and we feel that what we should do is to support those who are running the schools to see what we can do in upgrading those facilities. This will be an easier way of assimilation.

    There was this belief in the past that the North is educationally backward; do you still subscribe to this notion of bridging the gap with the South?

    Yes of course, people have been saying that and it is correct that the North is backward in education. But I can tell you that for us, we have been able to bridge that yawning gap. First, you need to have somebody with foresight who can champion that course, you need to have a leader, who should be on the driving seat. When you talk of a boss, he sits there and tells you to go ahead and would be watching you to see how you are performing, but a leader would be the one in the front and say follow me, as he leads you to the right way. Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is leading us to the right direction and that is why he is taking it very aggressively in terms of the proper way that it should be done on education. We need to have a sound education plan.

    As the Information Commissioner, where do you think the state is lacking in terms of manpower?

    Well, when you talk of manpower, there are so many areas and those are the areas we are making efforts to bridge the gap, particularly those areas that we need to do more. For example, the governor sponsored about 100 females to study Gynaecology because we realised that it is an area that we are lacking behind within the state and that it is very important. On completion, the 100 females would only provide their expertise to Kano State alone but would also extend their services to other parts of the country, especially to those areas that require their services; so in that regard, you need to have someone who will be able to sensitize our minds to prepare for that, as well as to encourage our people to diversify into that field of study because we acknowledge the fact that we have a gap in that area and need to bridge it. And one other area that we also realised that we need to bridge the gap is the issue of teachers. We realised that there is the issue of misplacement of some of the teachers. For example, you have the issue of a teacher, who is better qualified than where he is teaching, just as you can find a teacher who is supposed to be in tertiary institution but teaching in a secondary school. Also, we presently have a situation, where you have teachers that are not supposed to be teaching in tertiary institutions but are teaching there, so we needed to harmonize such positions, which is the exercise that the governor is making efforts to effect. Also, those that are required to proceed for further training, so as to fit into where they are, which informed the decision to commence a programme for our teachers. For example, we are aware that we have shortage of technical school teachers and that is why the state has sent so many teachers to the United Kingdom to study emerging technology in technical education.

    It should also be noted that we have 44 local governments within the state and when you look at the programme, the governor decided that we need to have strategic schools to cater for certain areas that we feel our people would be interested in. For example, the School for Islamic Studies (SIS) is specifically to support what our children have learnt either in the Almajiri, Arabic or in the Quranic schools, so as to be able to upgrade themselves. For now, we have techniclal schools spread across the 44 local government areas of the state, where we send some skilful people to because at the end of the day, not everybody will end up in the education field, as some will want to become artisans, while some will want to become craftsmen, so we needed to provide such category of schools that will provide such skills, so as to bridge that gap. And that is why we also have the sports institute , as we realised that there are some children interested in sports. So, that is how we are carefully building human capacity.

    Do you think the ongoing construction of flyover projects will be completed at the end of Kwankwaso’s tenure in office?

    I can tell you that when we came on board, we realised that it will amount to total waste of time to encourage people to invest in Kano without the provision of infrastructure. So, our primary objective was to embark on the construction of infrastructure, which will attract investors on their own volition and that is why so many airlines are flying the Kano route, not because they are interested in Kano but because the metropolis is being transformed to a mega city. Apart from that, the programme of Gov. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is an urbanisation programme. He appreciated the need to improve facilities in Kano, particularly the provision of infrastructure, so as to further open up Kano, as well as to decongest the metropolis and to ensure that it is transformed to a mega city. And that is what informed that decision to concentrate on network of roads and the very first time, one is noticing flyovers criss-crossing the metropolis, a two kilometre flyover, which is perhaps the second longest bridge in the country and the hinterland, as there is no flyover that is as long as the one in Sabon Gari, which is still under construction. The Sabon Gari area in Yan Kura is one the central business district areas, as Kano is popular for its commerce. The city attracts people from all walks of life, including the neighbouring countries for business transaction. The only way to make that possible is to open up the city, where they will arrive and have hitch-free access to our markets for their business transaction. But in order to put all these facilities in place, you need to have somebody who is visionary. People have been talking about flyovers for the past 40 years but today the government has transformed that dream to reality and that is why I am insisting that what we have is a real programme and not an abstract programme. However, one of the most critical and important success of the incumbent government is the issue of accountability, probity and transparency because we needed to ensure that whatever we are doing must be very transparent, as well as accountable and to also block all leakages and that is why as at today, we are doing well and our workforce do not complain about non-payment of salaries because they are paid as at when due. Also, we have done so much to the pensioners. When we came on board, there were pensioners, who were receiving N500 but the governor decided to create a bench mark that all pensioners, who were earning below N5,000, will now have a benchmark of N5,000 and above. That means that those who were earlier receiving N300 will now be receiving N5,000 and from that benchmark, the state government will embark on upgrading of the various scales and have a ladder of how the increment will rise, and it has never happened in the history of Kano, as those who were earlier receiving N300 are now collecting N5,000. Also, our pensioners, who will retire will retire comfortably knowing they will receive their pay as at when due.

    Another important aspect is that we realised the need to block leakages, which the governor started from his office by stopping wastages.

     

     

  • ‘Rescue Mission restoring hope, confidence of Imo people’

    ‘Rescue Mission restoring hope, confidence of Imo people’

    Imo State Deputy Governor Prince Eze Madumere has said the Rescue Mission is restoring hope and confidence of the indigenes.

    He said: “The story of what happened at the bank of Oramiriukwa is better experienced than imagined. It is a pathetic tale of one-time river of life that almost turned to river of death. River Oramiriukwa serves as the natural boundary between Ngor Okpala Local Government in Imo State and its sister councils of Owerri West and Owerri North. The river has been of great economic importance to the people of Owerri North and Ngor Okpala, particularly the people of Obibi-Ezena and Imeriegwe, but remotely with other states, such as Rivers and Abia.

    “It is a source of drinking water and other pecuniary purposes for the people. Farmers depend on the river for washing and processing of their farm produce, while the communities around the area also bank on the river for fishing.

    “Oramiriukwa River did not begin and end in Ngor Okpala and its neighbouring Owerri North, but links River State and other areas, thereby making its economic importance even more manifest. Oramiriukwa had a bridge across it, which was said to have been built in the colonial era. The bridge, which later collapsed, created an evergreen and robust socio-economic and political interaction among the communities in Imo State and its neighbouring states like Rivers and Abia states. This worthy relationship occasioned by socio- economic activities was bonded by the regional market called Orie Obibi at Obibi-Ezena.”

    The deputy governor at the weekend visited the area to ensure the rebuilding of the bridge began with the adjoining road network to re-link the neighbouring villages and towns

    The traditional ruler of Imerienwe autonomous community, Eze Andrew Njoku, hailed Governor Rochas Okorocha and his deputy, Prince Madumere, for their vision and determination to develop the state.